By Vanessa Lyons, CEO at ThinkNewsBrands
Perhaps predictably, coverage of the latest University of Canberra Digital News Report has painted a solely bleak picture of the Australian news industry.
A closer look, however, reveals nuance and a lot to be positive about.
Major news brands are still the main source of news
The report states that for the first time social media platforms (26%, +1) have overtaken online news (23%, -5) as a “source of news”. But it also confirms traditional news brands continue to be the most popular source of news on social media.
Let’s be clear, social media platforms don’t create news. The news consumed on social media platforms comes from actual news sources.
More than half of all respondents pay attention to traditional news media sources and journalists on X (53%) and Facebook (52%) with slightly lower proportions on YouTube (43%), Instagram (46%), Snapchat (47%) and TikTok (45%).
The key takeaway, which has been long supported by ThinkNewsBrands own data, is that while social media platforms have increased as an “access point”, users are ultimately consuming content on major news publisher websites.
Growing interest in and strong engagement with news
The report shows Australia’s interest in news is strengthening with a steady increase over the last two years (2023: 53%, 2024: 54%, 2025: 55%).
News engagement also remains strong and appears to be growing. The proportion of heavy consumers (those who consume news more than once a day) has increased by 5 percentage points since 2023 to 53%. The proportion of light consumers has remained stable (40%). Those who say they never access news or do so less than once a month have declined to 6% (-1).
Furthermore, the percentage of people who pay for news has increased to 22% (+1), well above the global average (18%).
The key takeaway for advertisers, which is again consistent with ThinkNewsBrands and Roy Morgan data on news consumption, is that consumer engagement with news is strong and strengthening. Advertisers who are interested in media that captures audiences and delivers real attention for their brands should look to news.
The conversation around news avoidance is completely overblown
Much has recently been said about news avoidance, and the digital report indicates people who say they often, sometimes or occasionally avoid news remains at 69%. However, a closer look at the data shows only 14% say they avoid news often and the rest fall into the sometimes or less categories. Almost a third (29%) say they never avoid news.
It’s worth putting this into perspective by considering the proportion of Australians that actively avoid social media.
According to a 2025 study by McCrindle Research, 86% of Gen-Zers, have taken active steps to reduce social media usage and 26% have attempted a “complete digital detox”. Yet no one is suggesting social media is in decline because of these even larger avoidance figures.
The truth is there’s a lot of news out there and the world is pretty chaotic, so it makes sense that people take breaks from it from time to time. It doesn’t mean they aren’t coming back to it or that it’s not an important part of their daily lives.
A good story on trust
According to the report, Australians have the highest concern about misinformation of any country. When asked about which online platforms pose a major misinformation threat, 59% nominated Facebook, followed by TikTok (57%), X (49%), Instagram (42%) and YouTube (35%).
What’s telling is that when people encounter misinformation, 39% say they turn to trusted news brands to check the veracity of the information.
But the big datapoint in the report is that trust in news has risen to 43% (+3) and those who have higher news literacy trust news even more (53%). This is a welcome result given current concerns about trust in institutions more generally and in the media specifically.
The key takeaway for brands is that as online information has and continues to become less certain, it’s clear that Australians are turning to major news publishers to protect themselves and make better sense of the world.
It’s no wonder that according to our research advertising in news is +18% more trustworthy relative to all other media which is one of the reasons why it is so effective.
And this is all before what looks to be an inevitable flood of online misinformation that will be brought on by ever-more ubiquitous AI.
So, in summary, the headlines don’t really tell the story. A closer look at the actual data paints a much rosier picture than what it might seem.
Advertisers should focus on the growing interest, engagement and trust in news evident this report and invest in Total News Publishing for the benefit of their brands.